San Francisco – November 7, 2025

While SF Tech Week fueled the city with ideas and energy, we added a global lens and explored what comes after innovation: presence, trust, emotion, and meaning in a world increasingly shaped by machines.

Over the course of four days, over 900 founders, researchers, artists, and investors passed through our space, joining events that ranged from startup showcases to experimental explorations of AI and robotics. Each gathering offered a different perspective on the future, yet together they revealed what matters most: creating the conditions for ideas to collide, collaborations to spark, and how innovation feels when it reconnects with human intention.

“Each event brought a distinct community, yet they shared a common purpose: to create the conditions where ideas meet and collaborations begin,” said Diego Riva, Community & Events Manager at Swissnex in San Francisco. “This week was a reminder that the future is embodied; we’re moving beyond software, into experiences and interactions that keep technology connected to human intention.”

Connecting Swiss Innovation to the World

We opened the week with 500 Global’s Flagship Demo Day, where early-stage founders presented their breakthroughs to an audience of investors, mentors, and partners. Among them was Algorized, a Swiss startup previously supported by Swissnex at CES 2024 and 2025.

“Partnering with 500 Global during SF Tech Week was truly inspiring,” said Matteo Cariglia, Startup Program Manager at Swissnex in San Francisco. “I was especially proud to see Algorized take the stage as part of the cohort. It’s a great reminder of how Swiss deep tech continues to make waves globally. I’m looking forward to more collaborations like this that connect Swiss innovation with the world.”

Rethinking Food Systems

On October 8, Swissnex gathered entrepreneurs and researchers for the MISTA Growth Hack, a session reimagining the future of nutrition and sustainable food systems, uniting pioneers exploring how biology, data, and design can help feed the world more equitably and sustainably.

The gathering had special significance: the idea for MISTA itself was first conceived in the very same Swissnex space nine years ago, where early connections, including with Givaudan, helped turn a shared vision into a thriving innovation platform.

Like much of SF Tech Week, the focus was not only on innovation itself but on the networks that allow these ideas to grow, bridging sectors, disciplines, and continents.

Exploring the AI Frontier

The next day, October 9, Swissnex opened its doors for the Llama Lounge 20 by Swisscom, which spotlighted AI startups, from generative design to machine learning ethics, exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming industries and how to ensure it remains grounded in human values as it scales.

Robot-Puppy Yoga: Rethinking Intimacy and Trust

To close out the week on October 10, we wrapped SF Tech Week with an unusual experiment: Robot-Puppy Yoga. The session invited participants to unwind from Tech Week with a yoga and meditation experience unlike any other, sharing space not with real puppies but with robotic companions. The event explored how AI enters our most intimate spaces and what it means to trust technology in moments of vulnerability.

“Robots can’t replace living beings yet,” reflected Sarah Teuscher, the event’s organizer. “The robotic puppies were impressive. They could move, strike poses, even attempt somersaults. But they didn’t spark the same warmth or calm as real animals. No matter how advanced the technology, it can’t replicate emotional presence. The softness, warmth, and unpredictability of living beings can’t be coded. If tech aims to replace or accompany life, it must feel emotionally intuitive, not just functionally impressive.”
The session also highlighted how the boundaries between humans and machines are increasingly blurred. As robots and AI mimic life more convincingly, the line between real and simulated becomes fascinating but also unsettling. Participants experienced firsthand how technology doesn’t always need to be everywhere; yoga, a practice rooted in stillness, silence, and presence, loses something when surrounded by whirring motors and blinking LEDs.

At the same time, the novelty of the technology brought excitement and a bit of disruption. “The session wasn’t relaxing,” Sarah added, “but it was interesting. A reminder that innovation often feels uncomfortable before it becomes normal.”

A Week of Networking and Experimentation

Across all four days, SF Tech Week at Swissnex was a living example of its mission to connect Switzerland and the world in science, education, innovation, and the arts. The gatherings showed how collaboration thrives at the intersections — between investors and founders, artists and technologists, humans and machines.

As Diego Riva concluded: “The conversations and connections sparked here will continue to shape what comes next, in the projects we build, and in how we choose to build them.”

As the week’s energy ripples outward, we’re reminded why connection is at the heart of innovation.